New USDA Funding Supports Food Safety Research

A USDA food safety program has awarded 21 grants totaling $15.1 million to fund food safety research in U.S. colleges and universities. The goal of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s and its Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) is to protect consumers from microbial and chemical contaminants occurring in the food chain. The grants, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, are clustered around four sub-programs: enhancing food safety through improved processing technologies; effective mitigation strategies for antimicrobial resistance ($3.4 million); improving food safety; and improving food quality.  Five schools received grants of about $1 million each.